Attachment devices having rotating cutters are used to cut, chip, and mulch material such as trees, bushes, roots, stumps, vegetation, and other debris. These types of devices are often combined with prime mover vehicles such as excavators or skid steer loaders. In operation, these devices are typically combined with the boom of a prime mover vehicle allowing them to reach upwards to remove the lighter tops from standing tees and then grind the remaining tree trunk down to the ground. Examples of these types of cutter devices are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,743,315 (Esposito et. al.) and 5,555,652 (Ashby).
One problem associated with these types of devices is that it can be difficult to control and maintain consistent contact with the materials being cut (e.g. trees) as their trunks are being cut and mulched due to the forceful impact of the rotating cutting elements and the springiness of the tree trunk. As illustrated in FIG. 2, with existing devices, the tree trunk shakes and vibrates violently as the rotating cutting elements successively contact the tree trunk. This occurs because the cutting elements momentarily displace the tree trunk from its normal upright position as it is struck. Then, the tree trunk springs back to its normal position in-between strikes from the cutting elements. The result is often excessive oscillation, vibration, plunge or sporadic cutting and deflection of the tree trunk away from the cutter making it difficult to mulch the standing tree trunk to the ground. This condition is amplified by the distance that the cutting assembly is lifted or extended out and away from the prime mover.